BFC Partners is packing up its current Manhattan digs and heading deeper downtown, taking roughly 14,000 square feet at 17 State Street in the Financial District. The deal will roughly double the Brooklyn-based developer’s local office footprint and give the firm a full-floor perch as it scales up a growing slate of housing and mixed-use projects across the city. Company leaders are pitching the relocation as a clear marker of the firm’s growth and an evolution in its services.
As first reported by the New York Post, a Cushman & Wakefield team negotiated the lease, which will put BFC in the 42-story tower at State and Pearl streets. Principal Joe Ferrara called the deal “an important milestone for us that represents the growth of our team and the evolution of our services,” according to the report. The Post did not list a public move-in date for the new space.
BFC Partners describes itself as a full-service developer with a focus on mixed-income and affordable housing, and its portfolio page highlights large Manhattan efforts such as Essex Crossing alongside other neighborhood redevelopments. The firm also recently closed financing for the third phase of a three-building Surf Avenue complex in Coney Island that will add hundreds of affordable units, according to a company release. Those project details are available on BFC Partners' website and in the firm’s Surf Avenue financing announcement.
17 State Street’s Recent Leasing Push
In landing BFC, 17 State Street continues a run of full-floor deals over the past year that has turned the glassy tower into a bit of a comeback story for downtown offices. RFR’s 42-story building across from Battery Park has signed multiple large leases and renewals, and market reporting has put asking rents in the mid-$70s per square foot. Commercial Observer has tracked the landlord’s leasing momentum and the roster of recent tenants.
What the Move Signals
BFC’s decision to spread out into a larger downtown office lines up with a broader trend of tenants grabbing upgraded, full-floor space as the Manhattan market tightens. Coverage of 2025–2026 leasing across Lower Manhattan points to a steady flow of renewals and relocations into modernized towers, a pattern that industry trackers say has helped pull employers back downtown. For a wider view of that trend, see the year’s lease roundup at NewYorkOffices.
The move to 17 State Street will also put BFC within closer reach of the lenders, city agencies, and legal and financial services that typically surround large development work as projects move from financing to construction. The New York Post account appears to be the first public report of the lease, and further details on timing and build-out plans are expected once BFC or the brokers release more information.
